About Gladstone — https://gstoneinc.com/

About Orion – https://orion.com/

Steven Clark sits down with Natalie Wolfsen, CEO of Orion, for an unfiltered conversation. Orion's AI-native wealthtech platform powers financial advisors, servicing $6.6 trillion in assets under administration.

Wolfsen shares her take on the questions advisors and RIA owners are asking most right now, from how far AI can actually go in closing the advisor capacity gap to whether the wealth tech ecosystem is due for a wave of consolidation.

For an owner trying to figure out where technology, growth, and talent intersect, it's a direct look behind the curtain from someone building one of the industry's biggest platforms.

CHAPTERS

[08:00] $6.6 Trillion and Growing: Orion's Platform by the Numbers

[12:00] The Decisions That Built Orion, According to the Woman Running It Now

[17:00] Why Wolfsen Bet Big on AI Before It Was Trendy

[21:00] Guarding Against Rogue AI: Inside Orion's ISO 42001 Certification

[26:00] Organic vs. Inorganic Growth for Advisors

[29:00] Is the Wealth Tech Ecosystem About to Consolidate?

[44:00] AI Is the Real Fix for the Advisor Shortage

[46:00] Bold Prediction: AI Will Look Nothing Like This by December

ABOUT THE HUNTER

The Hunter Podcast is hosted by Steven Clark, Senior Managing Director and President of Search at Gladstone Group, and features conversations with executives and leaders driving change across asset management, wealth management, insurance, and fintech. New episodes are released regularly as part of Gladstone's ongoing content series.

Enjoyed this conversation? Gladstone Group brings nearly four decades of relationships and pattern recognition to RIAs and wealth management firms navigating M&A, executive search, and valuation decisions. Visit gstoneinc.com to learn more about our services or to get in touch with our team.

Looking for your next search or considering what your firm is worth? Reach out through gstoneinc.com to start the conversation.

Subscribe to The Hunter Podcast to catch every episode, and follow Gladstone Group on LinkedIn for the latest insights on M&A, talent, and growth in the wealth management industry

About Gladstone — https://gstoneinc.com/

About Modern Wealth Management – https://www.modwm.com/

Steven Clark sits down with Jason Gordo, President and Co-Founder of Modern Wealth Management, for an unfiltered conversation.

Modern is one of the fastest-growing aggregators in the industry, now over $15 billion in AUM in just 40 months. Gordo answers the questions Gladstone hears constantly from RIA owners considering a sale, from what private equity has really done to the industry to how a buyer actually separates true growers from lifestyle businesses looking for an exit.

For an owner weighing timing or wondering how buyers really evaluate a firm, it's a direct look behind the curtain from someone building one of them.

[09:00] What United Capital and Goldman Sachs Taught Him About Building It Right

[26:00] What Do Aggregators Think About Exiting Founders?

[29:00] Is PE a net good or a net bad for the industry? — Gordo's Unfiltered Take

[33:00] Why Revenue Quality Matters More Than Scale

[37:00] What Inning Are RIA Valuations In?

[39:00] Is the Advisor Shortage Overblown?

[44:00] Bold Prediction: Q4 2026 Will Be the Biggest Consolidation Quarter Ever

The Hunter Podcast is hosted by Steven Clark, Senior Managing Director and President of Search at Gladstone Group, and features conversations with executives and leaders driving change across asset management, wealth management, insurance, and fintech. New episodes are released regularly as part of Gladstone's ongoing content series.

Enjoyed this conversation? Gladstone Group brings nearly four decades of relationships and pattern recognition to RIAs and wealth management firms navigating M&A, executive search, and valuation decisions. Visit gstoneinc.com to learn more about our services or to get in touch with our team.

Looking for your next search or considering what your firm is worth? Reach out through gstoneinc.com to start the conversation.

Subscribe to The Hunter Podcast to catch every episode, and follow Gladstone Group on LinkedIn for the latest insights on M&A, talent, and growth in the wealth management industry.

Chapters
About The Hunter Podcast

About Gladstone - https://gstoneinc.com/

Episode Summary

Steven Clark kicks off the Hunter Podcast's summer series with Glenn Coward, founder and CEO of Capability Source, a work management solutions provider whose client list includes Charles Schwab, USAA, Prudential, and Disney. Coward built his career at the intersection of business process and technology, and this conversation covers what that intersection actually looks like in practice, including a Schwab case study that generated $30 million in new-to-firm revenue and $1.7 billion in new assets under management from a single project.

The back half of the conversation turns directly to AI: where it already works, where it fails, and why Coward believes the industry is heading into the trough of disillusionment before a decade of genuine, durable value. For RIA leaders considering operational efficiency, client experience, and where AI fits within their firms, this episode offers a practitioner's view rather than a vendor's pitch.

Chapters

[00:00] Welcome to the Hunter Podcast summer series

[02:00] What Capability Source actually does

[03:00] Explaining a solutions provider "to your mother-in-law"

[05:00] From USAA to Schwab: the origin story

[07:00] Adobe, Disney, and the expansion beyond financial services

[08:30] The $1.7 billion hand-raiser project

[11:00] What is an enterprise architect, really

[13:30] The executive sponsor who made the leap possible

[16:00] Why AI adoption looks different across industries

[31:30] The good, the bad, and the synthetic voice

[33:30] The next generation of customer service isn't fully automated

[36:00] Building a virtual team a decade before COVID made it normal

[39:00] Keeping culture alive across a distributed team

[42:00] Lightning round

[44:00] Bold prediction: AI hits the trough of disillusionment in 2026